If you have top grades, then you should consider going to IIT, as many IIT grads find their way into top US grad programs and to careers with major US firms. A top LAC vs. Ivy is also a question of personal fit and disposition. If you are sitting overseas this may be a difficult quality to understand. The student body at AC or the other top NESCAC schools will overlap academically with the student body at the ivies in terms of academic zeal and interest, but may often be more quirky and less career oriented. If your goal is to attend grad school in social sciences and you are going to work very hard in undergrad, honestly you could go anywhere and most likely get accepted at a top political science program at a major grad school. A top LAC is very much a lifestyle choice and academically its a much more intimate setting, where as prior posters have correctly indicated you will have more direct interaction with professors and have access to do personal research. Both schools are top notch, certainly the ivies are better known internationally, but is your school choice based on your personal future goals or to please your parents?